Cry for Me Page 3

  Rick could not move at first. He just sat there trying to digest what Jim had just dumped on his plate. How horrific that must have been. Lying there, completely helpless while you are cut up by some sick butcher. The fear the victim must have felt. Rick could not bring himself to think about it anymore. But he had to. It was up to him to stop this sick son of a bitch before “it” kills again.

  “I have a little more I need to explain Rick.”

  “There is more?” exclaimed Rick.

  “I’m afraid so. According to the Medical Examiner based upon the amount of blood loss indicates that the killer started by removing the sinus glands via the nostrils. That is why there are stretch marks in the skin surrounding the nostrils. The killer did a real hack job on removing them. The pain had to be unbearable. The killer then more then likely removed the eyeball followed by the tear glands then on to the saliva glands. The breast glands would have been next followed by the genital organs. The size of the veins and arteries leading in and out of the male genitalia would have been sufficient to cause death. How quickly depends on how the killer went about removing them. It probably took some time before consciousness was lost, due to blood loss. Rick, this victim died a horrible and very painful death.”

  “Thanks Jim. I will get back to you if I have any other questions. I need to get my ass moving, and catch this bastard before I have another body on my hands.”

  Rick was pulling out of the Kane County Government Center when he called Keyes on his cell phone. Rick told Keyes that he was on his way to the crime scene, and to meet him there. He told Keyes everything that he learned at the Coroners office. Like everyone else Keyes was speechless and only responded by saying, “Ok. I’ll see you there.”

  As Rick continued to drive to the crime scene he could not help but think about what kind of torture the victim had been put through. He wondered why the killer put him through this pain. “Was this a crime of passion?” wondered Rick. The victim did have semen in his stomach. Could this have been a jilted homosexual lover who in the heat of things lost control? It does not make sense. The victim was poisoned with Curare for Christ’s sake! Who has Curare just laying around in a hypo waiting to inject it into their cheating lover? Rape does not fit the description either. Too brutal and no tearing or injuries were found to the rectum. The victim must have known the killer, or trusted them enough to go willingly, because there were no injuries to the body that would suggest a fight. There were no defensive wounds. The fingernails were intact. The fingernails would have almost definately been damaged during a struggle. Rick’s mind was racing with questions and scenarios he needed answers to and fast.

  Rick pulled down South St. and saw Dan’s patrol car pulled up next to the officer’s that was assigned to protect the crime scene. Miller had requested a special detail to place an officer at the scene to keep people from entering the taped area and contaminating any evidence that may have been overlooked. When Keyes saw Miller’s squad car approaching, he excused himself from the other officer and began to walk over to meet Miller where he parked.

  The typical patrol car for the South Elgin Police is mainly white in color with a black stripe running down the side. It has an emblem on the driver and passenger door which is the patch that is worn on the uniform sleeve. It is the basic police car with the emergency light bar mounted to the top of the car.

  Rick’s car was not meant for high visibility. His car was known as a “plain wrapper”. It was black in color with no markings at all. A Ford Police Interceptor Sedan with all the emergency lights located on the inside rear dash and mounted to the upper inside windshield in the passenger area. The only tell tale sign that it was a police car, was the all too familiar spotlight at the driver side door and the prisoner cage separating the driver compartment from the rear passenger seat.

  Miller and Keyes walked over the taped area and were discussing information learned from the autopsy, when Keyes suddenly remembered he had information he needed to share with Rick. “Detective Miller, I almost forgot. I got a call back from Elgin P.D. with more information on our vic. Rush is a well known prostitute that mainly works the casino boat area.”

  “Elgin has hookers working the streets around the boat?” asked Rick.

  “Our victim is no street walker by any means. He is a high end, male prostitute that specializes in other men. He advertises on Craig’s List and targets patrons of the casino. Always posts cash for his arrest bonds and has had no violent arrests or convictions on his record. His record consists of 5 arrests for prostitution with 0 convictions. He has 2 convictions: 1 for disorderly conduct at age 19 where he was arrested by St. Charles Police for yelling obscenities in the middle of Rt. 64, after apparently having had a few too many and got into a heated argument with his lover. The other conviction was for Solicitation of a Sexual Act at age 18. In this one he offered money to have sex with an undercover Cook County Sheriff’s Deputy during a crack down on sex offenders in forest preserves. He also has one arrest for Patronizing a prostitute at age 19 by Cook County Sheriff’s Police. That case was later dropped by the Cook County States Attorney for insufficient evidence.”

  “Someone has a good attorney”, replied Rick.

  “That’s just it. According to Elgin he makes enough money at his craft he can afford to hire that hot shot defense attorney, Don Macenbara.”

  “Of course.” mumbled Rick. “Where does our vic live?”

  “He has himself a posh little condo in the high rent district on Elgin’s west side.”

  “Oh, but of course.” replied Rick in a sarcastic tone.

  “I went ahead and secured a search warrant for Rush's condo and was granted one. Kane County and Elgin evidence technicians are over there processing it”, said Dan.

  “Regardless of our victims illegal activities he did not deserve to die like this. We have to find the sick fuck that did this Dan, before it kills again.”

  Rick and Dan spent the next two hours combing over the crime scene trying to find anything that could help shed some light on this ghastly crime. They walked the river’s edge searching the banks, fanned out into the play area of the park, walked the walking/ bike path that cuts through the park, and searched the neighbors yard adjacent to the park in hopes to find something that may have been over looked by the evidence technicians but found nothing.

  The bright hot sun was now blocked by a large dark cloud and Rick could see that a large storm system was rolling in from the west. The wind was beginning to pick up and temperature had begun to drop rapidly. The cool air ushered in the by the oncoming storm felt refreshing on their sweaty bodies. It had been another hot day. It was the fifth day in row with temps that had flirted with 100 degrees. Miller needed to get back to the station and start pouring over the evidence that he had. There was so much to look at and consider. Rick did not know where to start. He needed to get his head wrapped around this case. Rick’s train of thought was disrupted by the ringing of Keyes cell phone. He listened to Keyes as he was responded to the caller on the other end. “Who was that?” asked Rick.

  “That was Kane County CID, doesn’t look like the murder took place at Rush's. They processed it and took several pictures that they will drop off at the station later. The place is immaculate and well decorated.”

  “Ok.”, replied Rick.

  Chapter 4

  The room was dark and quiet. The only noise that could be heard was the faint hum of the air conditioning unit outside the bedroom window and the occasional deep breathing from Rick as he lay sleeping. Rick had been at the station late with Officer Keyes. They were pouring over all the evidence that had been collected. Everything from the crime scene and the victim’s condo had been gone over and they were no closer to solving this case than they were when they learned the identity of the victim.

  The sound of Rick’s alarm cut through the still of the night. The sound was ear piercing. Rick immediately lunged for the off switch. It was four o’clock am. Rick had been asleep only 4 ho
urs and was still extremely tired. None the less, he needed to get up and get a start on the day. He was going to meet with some detectives from Elgin Police and visit some known acquaintances of Mr. Rush. They did not have a suspect to investigate so they were going to investigate the victim and see what they could find out.

  Rick climbed out of bed and shuffled over to the bathroom, used the toilet, and pushed himself into the shower. The warm water was cascading down Rick’s naked body as he stood directly under the shower head combing over evidence in his head. What do we know?” Rick thought. We know the victim was killed sometime between 5:30 and 7:30pm on the 13th of July and the body placed at the park at somewhere around midnight on the 14th approx. 4 ½ -5 hours after the latest hour of death. The killer had enough time to remove the organs, suture, shave the body, and clean all evidence from the body, transport the body to the park, and set the crime scene, all in this short period of time without being seen. Did the killer live close by? Had to, how else could all of this have happened in that time period? We know the body was found at approx. 6:20am per Mr. Golding’s statement. So the killer actually had between somewhere after midnight, to sometime before 6:20 in the morning, to set the scene. We know the victim was not killed at the park. We know the victim’s identity, where he lived, and that he was a gay prostitute. We know the victim was poisoned with the rare poison, Curare. Where did the killer get Curare? We know the victim bled to death. We know the victim had semi-digested semen in his stomach.” Rick’s mind was racing as he re-hammered the facts in his head.

  Rick was planning his day in his head as he dressed. Rick did not dress as the stereotypical Hollywood detective and this he liked. He was not much of a suit man. He never found them comfortable and felt out of place wearing them. He owned one suit that he reserved for weddings, funerals, and court.

  His clothing for work consisted of a navy blue polo style shirt with the South Elgin Police star silk screened on the left breast, blue jeans, and black police boots that are much like a combination of a full upper boot and a gym shoe. He wore his police star on a badge holder placed on the front right side of his belt. On his right hip was his firearm, a Ruger SR1911 .45 caliber stainless steel semi-automatic hand gun. On the rear of his back was one pair of Smith and Wesson model 100 handcuffs neatly tucked into an open basket weave handcuff case. On his left hip was his cell phone next to two extra magazines for his firearm situated in a basket weave magazine pouch. His body armor was worn on the outside of his shirt in a navy blue carrier with an embroidered patch of his police star sewn to the chest.

  After dressing, Rick brewed a cup of coffee in his Keurig coffee maker and headed out his apartment door. Rick lived on the east side of South Elgin in a small apartment building consisting of six units, three on each side. The apartment building is a brown two story unit with two units on the first floor and two units on the second floor. The first and second floor units were two bedroom units with two doors to each unit. One door at the front of the unit leading from the hallway into the living room and one at the rear of the unit, leading from the hallway into the kitchen. There were two units in the basement as well as a laundry room. The basement units were only a one bedroom with the kitchen and living room in an open room design. There was one entrance that leads from the hallway into the living room. The other entrance exited to the outside from the bedroom below ground level with a cement staircase consisting of approx. twelve steps leading to the parking lot. This is where Rick lived. Rick had his choice between any one of the units when he looked at apartments as there were three units available at the time. He chose the ground unit because he thought it added extra protection during severe storms.

  Rick was walking across the parking lot of the apartment building towards his patrol car when he ran across his neighbor, Samantha Anderson. Samantha is an attractive, 35 year old divorcee’, that lived in the ground unit directly across from Rick. She worked as a personal trainer and yoga instructor at the local gym. She moved in a year before Rick after an extremely ugly divorce from an abusive husband. She had no children and devoted her life to physical fitness. Samantha liked having Rick living across from her unit. She felt safe knowing there was a police officer just across the hall. Rick got along very well with all the tenants in the building and was well liked by all of them. Just not quite as well liked as he was by Samantha. Over the past four years that Rick lived in the building she had developed feelings for him. They had dinner several times over the years but more as close neighbors than lovers.

  “Good morning Rick”.

  “Good morning Sam. Just getting back from your run I see.”

  “Yeah I wanted to get in my run before it got too hot today. I have a busy day today. I’m teaching a cardio class this morning followed by four yoga sessions. Then I am off to Sherman Hospital for a nutrition seminar.”

  “You go girl!”

  ” Hey, one of these days I’m going to get you out on a run with me!” teased Samantha.

  “That will be the day!” replied Rick teasing her right back.

  Samantha looked Rick directly in the eyes and replied in a flirtatious manner, “You promised!”

  “I know, I know, I will someday. It’s just that I am busy right now.” Rick trailed off at the end of his sentence as he was now reminded he still had a killer to catch.

  “Yeah I read that in the paper, Rick. I have to admit, I’m a bit spooked by this whole thing. I hope you catch the killer fast, and please Rick, be careful.”

  “I will and no need to be frightened. You know you can call my cell if you ever need anything. One more thing, Sam”

  “Yeah sure anything, Rick.” interrupted Samantha.

  Rick was looking at her light blonde hair and admiring the way the early morning sun was shinning off of it. He always thought she was beautiful and today she seemed even more so. “When you leave work, walk out with a few coworkers for the time being until I can get a lid on this.” pleaded Rick.

  Rick said goodbye to Samantha and got in his patrol car. He called Officer Keyes on his cell phone as he pulled out of the parking lot. Rick woke Dan up when he called. He was surprised that Dan was still sleeping and a little irritated by it. Rick could not understand why Dan had slept through his alarm. He left at the same time as Rick. Dan quickly explained that just after he left the station he assisted another officer on a traffic stop where the offender had an active warrant for aggravated battery to a police officer and he was just a block away when the call came over the radio.

  Regular full time officers that live within the village limits are allowed to take their assigned patrol cars home with them. This eased Rick’s tension as he could understand the need to back up another officer during a potentially dangerous stop.

  Rick told Dan to head back over to Mr. Golding’s house and to go over his statement again with him. “See if there is anything he left out, or if he has thought of anything else.” said Rick.

  “You looking at Golding as a person of interest?” asked Dan in a puzzled tone.

  “No. Not a chance. Golding is too old to pull something like this off. He was pretty agitated that day and in a hurry to get home. Maybe he has had a chance to cool off and has something worth while to add.”, responded Rick.

  Dan acknowledged and said he was going to dress and head over to Golding’s place first thing. Rick told Dan that he was headed to meet up with Elgin Detectives, to interview some known acquaintances of the victim, and when he was done, he would head back to the station.

  Rick stopped by the station before heading over to Elgin P.D. to check in. He was greeted at the front door by Lynn. “Hey, Rick. Sleep well?” asked Lynn.

  “Yeah, I slept fast.” mumbled Rick. Lynn advised Rick that the Coroner’s Office had called. The family of the victim read his name in the paper, went to the morgue, and made positive ID on the body. She told Rick that the family, a sister and the mother, lived in McHenry IL. and had left their address with him.

  “How in
the hell did the press find out the vic’s name? I specifically said not to release that information!!” exclaimed Rick. Lynn could tell Rick was extremely pissed. She tries to calm him down by explaining that maybe this was a good thing because the family could be interviewed. Rick was still pissed! He wanted to know who leaked this information. “It had better not be someone from this department!” yelled Rick. Lynn explained the article had been written in the paper, City Heat Gazette.

  City Heat Gazette is a less than reputable news source that operates like an underground tabloid of sorts. It consists of free lance writers and “paparazzi” style photographers. The paper publication can be found at gas stations, convenient stores, and liquor stores throughout the Fox Valley as well as their website. “The City Heat! That is a trash paper! God help it if someone in this department gave confidential information to scum bags at City Heat Gazette!!” yelled Rick.

  Rick immediately called Dan and explained to him what he had just found out. He told him to hold off on questioning Golding until later this afternoon and to head over to the family and interview them. He also asked Keyes if he knew anything about how the information was leaked to that rag mag, City Heat Gazette. Keyes, of course, had no knowledge of it. Rick told him that after interviewing the family and Golding to get over to City Heat and put the pressure on them to reveal their source. Keyes acknowledged Detective Miller and immediately placed a courtesy call to the City of McHenry Police and advised them of the nature of his visit and to request an officer to meet him at the family’s address.